


Take Me Back to the Start

by krashlyntome (bestthreemonths)



Series: Campverse [3]
Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2016-01-22
Packaged: 2018-05-15 14:04:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5788009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestthreemonths/pseuds/krashlyntome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nearly five years later, Ashlyn and Ali revisit the place that shaped so much of their lives together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Me Back to the Start

**Author's Note:**

> This is a highly requested epilogue (of sorts) to Long Hot Summer. Enjoy!

The thing about adulthood is that it's boring, Ali has come to realize. Even traveling the world doing what she loves comes along with a heaping pile of down time and nothing to do with it. She’s made a ton of friends on every team she’s been part of, even the National Team (she still has to pinch herself about that sometimes), but she always misses Ashlyn.

They were long distance from basically the very beginning of their relationship, so when the domestic league was announced and Ali was allocated to her hometown Washington Spirit, Ashlyn couldn’t pass up the chance to find a job in D.C. and move there permanently. When Ali moved to Germany, they spoke at great lengths about Ashlyn joining her. There were programs for recent college graduates to go abroad and teach or do internships, but her heart was never in any of those things, and Ali wouldn’t let her move across the ocean just for her.

Germany had been but a pipe dream, but D.C. was doable. Ashlyn makes a lot more as a high school guidance counselor than she would otherwise due to the cost of living, and she receives a decent bonus for coaching the girls’ soccer team. Having summers off means having time to visit friends and family and supporting Ali wherever she goes.

Ali, on the other hand, has a wildly different schedule, and sometimes it’s frustrating that she and Ashlyn live such different lives, but living them together is worth the hassle. And neither one of them would trade anything for those sweet moments when their careers give them a moment to breathe and live in sync.

"What are we going to do this weekend?" Ali asks over dinner Thursday night.

"I don't know, whatever you want," Ashlyn says, and Ali groans. "It's been a while since we've been to the cabin."

"Is it supposed to be nice this weekend?" It's March, so the weather can be touch and go in Pennsylvania, but the nice days have been more frequent in D.C. lately.

Ashlyn shrugs. "It's not like we need nice weather, sometimes it's just good to escape."

Ali can't argue with that, and it's not like there's anything better to do, which is how she finds herself in the driver's seat on a quiet ride to the cabin Friday night while Ashlyn sleeps in the passenger seat, exhausted from a long day of work.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Ali murmurs, her hand brushing Ashlyn's forehead gently. "You go inside and go to bed, sweetheart, I'll take the bags."

"No, no, I'll help," Ashlyn says, suddenly alert. Ali smiles softly. Ashlyn is chivalrous to a fault, always insisting on doing more than she should for Ali. She's gotten better over the years at allowing Ali to help her and do things for her, but she's old-fashioned when it comes to this kind of thing, leading to their fair share of good-natured arguments.

Ali doesn't bother arguing, simply opening the trunk and meeting Ashlyn in the back. She grabs for a bag, but Ashlyn swoops in first, so she rolls her eyes and grabs her toiletry bag and small suitcase, the only bags she knows Ashlyn will let her handle.

As soon as they get in the house and up the stairs, turning on the heat and lights as they go, Ashlyn collapses facedown onto Ali's—no, their—bed. Ali smiles and takes a picture of her for Snapchat, forgetting that her sound is still on.

"I heard that," Ashlyn grumbles, her words muffled by the pillow in which her face is buried.

Ali adds the sleepy emoji and posts it before setting her phone on the dresser and crawling onto the bed. "Go to bed, baby. You're exhausted."

"Can't," Ashlyn murmurs. "Need you to cuddle."

"I'm here," Ali says. "But we should probably put on pajamas instead of this."

"No clothes," Ashlyn protests. 

Ali laughs, knowing full well that Ashlyn is not up for anything tonight, but she obliges her anyway, simply tossing her clothes in the direction of the hamper and crawling into bed as Ashlyn does the same on the other side.

“What do you want to do if the weather is nice tomorrow?” Ali asks as Ashlyn wraps her arms around her and buries her face in her neck.

“This,” Ashlyn mumbles. “You.”

Ali laughs. “You want to do me?”

“Did I stutter, woman?” Ashlyn says, kissing her neck.

“Fine, I suppose,” Ali sighs dramatically. “Hey, do you remember the first time we had sex?”

“In this bed, you mean?” Ashlyn asks. “How could I forget?”

“And then the first time we had sex after getting back together?”

“And Liz was here?” Ashlyn adds. “Apart from that whole thing, that was probably the best sex of my life.”

“Excuse me, I’m sure we’ve gotten better since that!”

“I meant up to that point,” Ashlyn says. “I’ve always been as good as it gets. You’ve gotten way better, though.”

“Rude.”

“Teasing,” Ashlyn says, kissing Ali’s cheek. “Now let me rest up so I can prove it when we wake up.”

Ali happily obliges, letting the arms around her warm her up and letting Ashlyn’s steady breathing and heartbeat calm her own before drifting off. Ashlyn is usually true to her word, especially when it involves getting laid, so Ali’s surprised to wake up without her when her phone sounds with Ashlyn’s specific text tone.

“Wake up!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m bored,” it says, and Ali rolls her eyes, rolling out of bed to put on a bathrobe. When she gets downstairs, Ashlyn is sitting on the couch like she’s been waiting for her for hours. Maybe she has, Ali thinks, though it’s only like 10.

“Morning,” Ali says, rubbing her eyes and sitting beside her.

“Morning,” Ashlyn says, giving her a quick kiss. “Come on, get dressed. Let’s go to brunch.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know, wherever you want.”

“Great plan,” Ali laughs. “I thought you wanted to stay in.”

“No, it’s nice out,” Ashlyn says.

“I thought we were going to stay in bed all day,” Ali whines. “You promised me a good time.”

“Are you going to let this gorgeous day go to waste?” Ashlyn asks. “It’ll be worth the wait.”

“Okay, weirdo,” Ali says. “But that’s what you said last night.”

“Are you going to get dressed or what?”

“Relax,” Ali grumbles. “I’m going!” As much as she loves brunch, Ali has to actively try not to be annoyed at the change of plans after dreaming all night about spending the day in bed with Ashlyn.

Ali bounds down the stairs in her favorite kinda-warm-but-not-really outfit of dark skinny jeans, an oversized light sweater over a plain white tank top, and light brown booties. She keeps her makeup light, mostly because Ashlyn’s the only one she really cares about impressing, and she’s seen her at her absolute worst.

“You look beautiful,” Ashlyn says when she walks into the kitchen for coffee, looking her up and down.

“Rethinking the whole not staying in bed all day thing now?” Ali teases, narrowing her eyes at the cooler by Ashlyn’s feet. “What is that?”

“A cooler,” Ashlyn shrugs.

“I can see that, but why?”

“I went out this morning and got some drinks and picnic stuff. I thought we could go by camp after brunch.”

Ali’s face lights up. “That’s brilliant!” she says. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. It’s so beautiful out!”

“See, I told you,” Ashlyn says. “I’m good for something.”

“You’re good for a few things,” Ali reminds her, kissing her lips.

~

“You really do look beautiful,” Ashlyn says for what has to be the fifteenth time today. She snaps a picture of Ali taking a sip of her mimosa, and Ali rolls her eyes.

“You’re not bad yourself.” Ali reaches for Ashlyn’s phone to turn the camera on her, but Ashlyn snatches it away.

“Nope, Instagramming that later, and I don’t want you to delete it.”

“I won’t!” Ali whines.

“You’ve said that before.”

“But this time I mean it.”

“All the pouting in the world isn’t going to make me give in.”

“By making me put on clothes and go into public you’ve taken away all my bargaining power.”

“Nah, you’ve bargained with me in public before,” Ashlyn says, wiggling her eyebrows. “Remember HAO’s wedding? And the time we went to the beach and found that area where nobody could see us?”

“Except those people who came looking for their dog that had run off,” Ali groans. “Not even remotely worth it.”

“I tried to tell you beach sex was overrated!”

“You know I’m stubborn.”

“You’re telling me,” Ashlyn says, grabbing the check from the waitress before she even sets it down, much to Ali’s chagrin. Ashlyn gives her a smug smile, slipping her credit card into the fold without looking at the receipt.

“Thank you,” Ali says. No matter how many times Ashlyn pays for a meal or opens a door or takes her hand in public, Ali thinks she’ll always get butterflies. Not that she’s complaining, of course.

~

Ashlyn came completely prepared, and Ali is honestly pretty impressed. Not only did she bring alcohol and mixers in the cooler, but she also brought Ali’s Bluetooth speakers and food for a picnic (despite how full they both are from brunch).

“Did you plan this?” Ali asks, her fingers interlaced with Ashlyn’s as they walk down the familiar path she used to jog every morning, every step another memory with another lifelong friend.

“Duh,” Ashlyn says. “I was at work on Friday thinking about the weekend and what we’d do and I realized if it was a nice day we should come back here and just walk around, but I wanted to surprise you and make it special.”

“You did that for sure. It doesn’t even feel like that long ago. But just about five years, geez.”

“Isn’t it weird that our campers are now the age we were then?”

“So weird,” Ali agrees. “And the fact that some of them are still here and working is incredible.”

“We should come during the summer if you have a day or two off from training,” Ashlyn suggests. “See Cait and Grace—”

“And Cap,” Ali laughs.

“And her all-grown-up babies,” Ashlyn says. “Did you see those pictures of Rylie on Facebook? She’s in high school. High school!”

“Seriously ridiculous,” Ali agrees. “I wish we could take a boat out.”

“Trust me, I tried,” Ashlyn says. “I texted Cap this morning, but nobody with keys is around. It’s probably too cold, though.”

“Remember when I almost died because Tyler knocked me out?” Ali jokes, but Ashlyn’s face is grim. “I’m sorry, I’m kidding. I know you don’t like joking about it.”

“Yeah,” Ashlyn says. “Although if that hadn’t happened, who knows if we would have ever gotten back together?”

“I do,” Ali says. “I always knew we would, one way or another.”

“You underestimated how pissed I was.”

“You underestimated how much you loved me.”

“I did,” Ashlyn sighs. “I thought you were just hot and good in bed.”

“So you admit it!” Ali says triumphantly. “I was good in bed!”

“Honey, you made me come twice in two minutes,” Ashlyn says. “You were fine.”

As they walk toward their old cabin, Ali looks around, appreciating their surroundings. She’ll never forget this place, that’s for sure, but she’ll certainly never forget her last summer here, the one that changed absolutely everything in her life. She shudders to think about the fact that she almost didn’t even come to camp that summer. Kyle has said “I told you so” enough since.

Ashlyn gets distracted by her phone for a minute, but Ali guides her toward the porch of Springs Lodge, where they used to stay up late into the night talking and kissing and resisting sleep to spend more time together. The doors to the cabins are locked during the off season, but the swing and rocking chairs are still on the porch, and Ali takes a seat on the swing, Ashlyn following.

“Want a drink?” Ashlyn asks, already opening the cooler. “Cranberry vodka?”

“Absolutely,” Ali agrees. Ashlyn pours them both a drink, mixing them with straws before handing one to Ali and closing the cooler, kicking it to the side of the porch so it’s not in their way. “Cheers?”

“To where it all began,” Ashlyn says, and Ali melts, leaning in to kiss her before tapping her plastic cup against Ashlyn’s. “Cheers.”

“This really is where everything happened,” Ali says. “I mean, for the most part. I developed my incredibly overwhelming crush on you here, we had so many deep conversations about the future, lots of great makeout sessions after lights out.”

“I can’t believe we never got caught,” Ashlyn laughs. “This place was pretty good to us, huh?”

“So good,” Ali says. “Sometimes I wish we could relive that summer. The good parts, anyway. We were so carefree and all that mattered was how much fun we could have.”

“You make me feel that way still,” Ashlyn says.

“Oh stop.”

“I’m serious! Watching you chase after your dreams to do what you love for the past few years has been so remarkable and inspiring. And playing with you and practicing with the Spirit makes me feel like I’m back in high school again. I just can’t believe how proud I am of you.”

“I’m proud of you for changing people’s lives,” Ali says. “Mine included.”

Ashlyn smiles, leaning in to kiss Ali softly, but she pulls away when Ali tries to deepen it. “This is where I fell in love with you,” she says. “I remember the exact moment, and I was going to tell you but then I chickened out, and the next day we broke up. But we were sitting here after Cait and Grace told the cabin about them, and we were talking about how brave they are, and you said something about how all you wanted for the rest of your life was to feel that untouchable, and I couldn’t believe it, because to me you are.”

“You touch me quite a lot,” Ali teases, but Ashlyn’s face is serious.

“Let me be sincere for a sec,” she says. “I fell in love with you because you were willing to do anything they needed to make them comfortable. Even stepping out of your comfort zone and taking a huge step in telling the girls about your sexuality. That wasn’t something I could have done at that point, and you were even newer to this whole journey. That was brave and selfless and amazing.”

“Baby,” Ali says, her left hand cupping Ashlyn’s chin. “You’re going to make me cry.”

“That was the plan,” Ashlyn teases. She takes the hand that’s on her face and holds it in her own as she reaches into her pocket, trying her best not to break eye contact with Ali, but she’s trembling so much that she has to look, and Ali’s gaze follows.

“What are you—” Ali starts to ask, but when Ashlyn pulls out a small velvet box, she gasps.

“Alex, you are my best friend,” Ashlyn starts. “You are my hero, my shoulder to cry on, the love of my life, and so much more. And I’d really like for you to be my wife.” She opens the box, and the tears that had been gathering in Ali’s eyes begin to fall down her face.

“Oh my God,” Ali says, her hand shaking as Ashlyn strokes her thumb over the back of it. “I think I just blacked out.”

Ashlyn laughs. “I can repeat myself if you want.”

“No,” Ali says. “I mean, yes! Yes yes yes yes of course I want to marry you. Yes, please.” Ashlyn’s nerves dissipate, but she’s still shaking with adrenaline as she slips the ring onto Ali’s left ring finger. “Oh my God, it’s so beautiful,” she says, looking away from her finger only to kiss Ashlyn again. “How did you—when did you?”

“I’ll tell you whole story when I feel like I can breathe again,” Ashlyn says. “And then maybe I’ll be able to remember it.”

“I feel like my whole body is on fire,” Ali says. “But in a good way. Oh my God, I have to call Kyle. You have to call Whitney!”

“We can call everyone in a little bit when your teeth stop chattering,” Ashlyn teases, standing up and pulling Ali with her. “In the meantime, do you want to go inside?”

“It’s locked,” Ali says, but Ashlyn just smiles, pulling the door open effortlessly.

“She said yes!” she announces, switching the light on. Ali’s heart jumps into her throat as she sees everyone who has been there from the beginning waiting in the cabin for them, streamers hung from the bunk beds. Everyone is there, from Cap to Liz to Whit to Syd to Caitlin to both of their families. Well, almost everyone.

“Where’s Kyle?” Ali asks Ashlyn quietly, but Ashlyn doesn’t have time to answer before a pair of strong arms squeeze Ali from behind, picking her up and making her squeal.

“Congratulations, queen!” Kyle exclaims. He sets her down, and Ali spins around to hug him back. “I was sneaking around in the trees and bushes to take pictures, duh! Oh my God, I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you see the look on your face. Congratulations, future sister!” he says, hugging Ashlyn as well.

Ali has what feels like a million people to hug, but she can’t bring herself to leave Ashlyn’s side, her arm secure around her waist. She loses count of the number of times she turns to kiss Ashlyn’s cheek and tell her she loves her, and for once, nobody teases or seems to mind at all. It isn’t until late that night, after a huge dinner out at the same restaurant where they spent Ali’s 21st birthday filled with drinks and laughter and reminiscing with old friends, that Ashlyn finally tells Ali about the months of planning and sneaking around it took to plan this.

And it isn’t until well after it all sinks in that Ali finally gets what Ashlyn promised the night before. “Told you it’d be worth the wait,” Ashlyn murmurs into her ear when they finish. It just takes one look down at her left ring finger for Ali to know Ashlyn was right.

**Author's Note:**

> This wouldn't be LHS without some questions, now would it?  
> 1\. Favorite line(s)?  
> 2\. Favorite part in general?  
> 3\. If I were to write anything pre-/mid-/post- camp, what would YOU want to see? It can be Ali/Ash-centric or not. I can't promise I'll write them all, but I'm open :)


End file.
